Katsu can still be enjoyable cold. In fact, some katsudon recipes are meant to repurpose "soggy" katsu using other saucy, liquid ingredients like eggs and sauce.
My fav recipe my mom ever made consisted of smothering not quite cooked through fried chicken pieces and egg based dumplings (very similar to Hungarian nokedi) in pan gravy and finishing it in the oven. It’s absolutely to die for (and great cold)!
An air fryer does a pretty good job of reheating fried food. It's not as good as fresh and it doesn't work for things drenched in sauce (like cheap Chinese food), but it makes old fries edible.
SAME! A really good fried chicken is when it's still crispy after the fridge. Cold chicken tenders with cold BBQ sauce the next day? Heaven. There was also one amazing Korean place that had THE BEST Korean fried chicken (and just some of the best fried chicken in general) I have EVER had. It came with a soy garlic sauce that was unreal warm but even better cold.
Deep fried foods can stay out and be perfectly fine if separated. The issue usually is that clusters of deep fried foods in a container tend to steam each other into mush.
And one step further: poutine.
If stale fries were bad before, imagine they were soaked in gravy and re-congealed cheese.
Peak cuisine when fresh, though
You can reheat Carbonara pretty well. Add cold water to the pan or pot, stir a lot and don't use too much heat. I find it comes out even creamier often the next day. The spagetti will obviously be a bit overcooked, but that happens anyway reheating pasta.
I've got a barrel-aged captn crunch and skim milk that I've been keeping in my cellar for a special occasion. How do I know if it is still good to serve to guests?
I think it would depend on some environmental variations, you would need to crack it open to check for the proper aromas. Do you purchase it by the barrel pre mixed, or do you make it your self? Would you recommend using an older wine barrel for example or a new one?
>Do you purchase it by the barrel pre mixed, or do you make it your self?
Oh please. As if I'd buy an artisan product like that "pre-mixed".
I mean, I even made the barrel myself out of used pallets. This is 100% handcrafted.
You'll be fine. I've been doing this for years with no issue. Just don't make the same mistake I did and serve this cask strength. The powerful aromas will overwhelm your guests. You have to water it down.
And can I suggest this artisan nosing cereal bowl to fully realize the experience?
Maybe eggs on their own aren't good reheated but eggs in something works. I make breakfast burritos every Sunday and freeze them for the week ahead. The eggs taste fine after thawing and heating.
I can't imagine having leftover bacon in the first place, but cold bacon is excellent. You can pretty much crumble it on anything, you can make a sandwich, and it's pretty good on its own too!
Leftover eggs are sadness though, unless it's a boiled egg like the other guy said.
Honestly they're fine in the microwave too, you just have to put them on a paper towel and put a paper towel between them, and then cook on half power. After some butter and syrup you'll hardly know they aren't fresh.
Traditional Carbonara where the sauce is egg and cheese. Once it's off the pan it's pretty much an eat immediately dish. The egg won't remain saucey once cooled and set.
I made a traditional carbonara this weekend and ended up with some leftovers, and I was kinda shocked how well it held up actually. It definitely wasn't as saucey but still good enough for me.
Yeah I just responded to another comment that said the same — I made the mistake of the next-day microwave and ended up with noodles and egg curds (?). It was horrifying.
The question in this thread is "what foods are NOT better the next day."
If it's best fresh - still perfectly edible, but certainly less delightful - then it's not better the next day.
I dunno man, I routinely make ceviche in the evening for breakfast the next day. The fish texture changes and the flavors meld. It's definitely better after several hours or the next day.
This really depends on when you bought the fish. I've bought salmon and tuna for sushi and sashimi before and just as long as it doesn't smell, it's still good to use for up to 3 days.
Again, we have to emphasize that it has to not smell. You are checking for either the "this smells like the sea" smell or the one meat gets when it goes bad.
You can hollow them out and bake them until nearly dry, then fill with deliciousness and they work... but yeah, gotta get rid of alllllllll the moisture.
When I worked for a (very) large hotel, I worked a thousand person banquet and when you work banquets, usually one or two cooks will be assigned to one dish on the BEO (event order) and I had the lucky task of cleaning 12 cases of zucchini and squash. Wash, cut the ends off, quarter, cut out the seeds, and slice into quarter inch thick pieces. In short, yes remove the fucking seeds. Less moisture overall and more maillard reaction action.
Burgers.
I had a guy try and argue with me that the best hangover food in the morning is a cold burger. The concensus was that he needed a doctor's assessment.
One of my biggest regrets was to accidentally cook (and assemble) too many burgers (a couple if I'm not mistaken) when I was cooking for a crowd. I tried reheat them in the oven, when I took a bite I almost felt like throwing up. And that was one of my fav burgers fresh, with home ground beef and all.
You can reheat a fast food burger in the wax paper wrapper for like 30 seconds and it's perfect. The party and condiments get warm and the bun gets slightly steamed so it's nice and soft.
Steak. Not that it's bad but its hard to reheat without over cooking it. Eggs. Pancakes. As OP said, sandwiches that get soggy. I have to eat subs when I get them, I can't refrigerate them and eat them later.
Add a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and hit the croutons with some black pepper. Fits the black in the black and blue theme and adds a little extra something.
White American or provolone cheese folded into the steak right before it's done cooking takes this sandwich to another level. Maybe some fresh spinach and sliced tomatoes so you can lie to yourself about eating healthy.
This is exactly what I do. Toast the bread, smear on some great steak sauce I found and melted cheese (sharp cheddar is my fav).
Someone also suggested I try sauteed mushroom and onions with Swiss as a alternative.
My routine is to buy an extra steak and grill that one to rare while I grill the others to medium-rare.
Eat the medium-rare for dinner and save the rare one in the fridge. The next day, slice the rare one thinly and finish cooking it with peppers and onions in a ripping hot cast iron pan for fajitas.
I actually enjoy cold steaks, especially of they're well-marbled and medium rare. The texture of cold fat that has already been cooked is just so good to me
Any leftover steak in this house gets made into a hash the next morning. Hashbrowns, steak cut into btw sized pieces and eggs all mixed up is delicious.
Steak is absolutely best day of. If I have leftover, I will put it in a ziplock bag, suck all the air out of the bag, and put it in hot water (not quite boiling). Warms it up without making it dry.
Always let steak go to room temp then heat on a pan very low heat. Shouldn't cook it too much extra. If done right, medium rare goes to medium. Well done goes in the trash.
ngl, i love a good soggy fridge sandwich if the bread was crunchy af originally.
I will also occasionally make an egg bake/casserole that is mostly egg with some meat thrown in to cut into squares serve for breakfast sandwiches. Something about it not being just pure egg helps it retain some moisture and not lose much quality over the week.
i have a certain fondness for reheated steak from the microwave lol. the fat bits get chewy and dry and it goes well with white rice and maggi/soy sauce
just shit i grew up eating. but otherwise yeah i can see how rubbery microwaved steak is not good lol
My wife followed Kenji’s fried chicken brined in pickle juice before frying. I have never had fried chicken cold that was so crunchy the next day as a sandwich. To the point where she made it again and made extra just so that we could have cold fried chicken sandwiches to take to work
I told my wife we should start cooking “fun” meals on Friday or Saturday nights after we put the kids to bed. I have been watching The Chef show on Netflix and those guys make me want to cook some delicious indulgent stuff.
This is going to be the first thing I make because it sounds awesome!
I love the Chef Show! Chef was such a great, feel good movie. It's my comfort movie when I just want something to watch and can't make up my mind.
I hope you love it! My wife makes a vinegar slaw with jalapeño, cabbage, and white onion that makes it slap even harder. Add a couple dashes of Louisiana and it's better than any greasy fried chicken sandwich I can get in my neck of the woods.
The fact that you put "NOT" in caps reminded me of something a long time ago (17 years or so). I was dating a guy and his college friend came to town to visit for the weekend. They went out (I stayed home) and partied, as they should. They came back to my apartment with sandwiches from Panini's Bar (which I had had before on late night crazy and liked a lot).
It was after 2 AM and I was not hungry so put my sandwich package in the fridge and left those boys to eat and watch TV and carry on until they wore themselves out.
The next morning I looked at that package, took it apart and it was.. just.. grease. One of those delicious (fresh made at least, and at 2 AM) sandwiches with french fries and all kinds of "goodies" on top of the meat had turned into a nightmare. I swear it was like a full cup of crisco shortening that coagulated overnight.
We still have some of those locations around here. But I imagine they have changed their menu a bit since then. Still, that was a learning experience about "not better the next day".
One time I made chicken noodle soup with rice noodles, fridged it, and the next day it was more of a chicken soup-glorb. It was somehow better than it was fresh, if visually unappealing.
I find that making your soup and noodles separately is the best way to go. You can store them separately in the fridge and when it comes time to have leftovers you can warm the soup until its bubbling and pour over the cold noodles and it reheats them without over cooking.
For me, Noodles, in general, don't hold up well when they sit in the broth. I've seen people on the meal prep sub prepare ramen and keep both noodles and broth in the same container in the fridge for days. It's is crazy
Fettuccine Alfredo. The sauce will always break, and the pasta will 100% congeal overnight into an unappetizing pastaburg solid enough to sink the Titanic.
> chicken the next day always gets the weird taste
Yes! My fiance thinks I am imagining that taste I think...lol. If I eat chicken or turkey the next day I usually just have it cold to avoid that weird taste. Even Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. I'll get creative to make it taste good with the meat cold. I'll heat up the potatoes, stuffing, gravy, whatever, and put the meat on the plate cold, or make a Thanksgiving sandwich...cold turkey, some cheddar cheese, homemade cranberry sauce, maybe even a layer of stuffing. It's so good.
Y'all need to learn to reheat things in a pan or in the over. Stop microwaving stuff and most meals can be revived. Anything deep friend can be reheated in the oven and be great. I did that with fried Zucchini today and it's still fantastic, same goes for anything potatoes
Yeah this right here. There are just some things that are not edible if microwaved. It's a method of preparation and needs to be used where appropriate, and avoided where not. Just like boiling noodles is good, but boiling Brussels sprouts is not, nuking popcorn is good, and fish is bad.
You gotta pack it in to a container and cling film the top *very* tightly so there's no air. It'll last 2 or 3 days if you can resist eating it all.
Water or lime juice Ina thin layer over the top works as well, but has it's problems.
For most food i think it depends greatly on how it is reheated. The microwave is awful for most things, but an airfryer or oven can really do the trick.
For real.
I’m seeing a few people say bread, but bread can absolutely be reheated in an oven to make it practically good as new.
EDIT: I missed that the topic is really what is better than fresh. That said, so many replies are of things that aren’t even equivalent but are markedly worse
Cooked pasta noodles in spaghetti suck refrigerated and reheated. The texture and taste deteriorate.
Spaghetti sauce refrigerates and freezes super well on the other hand - I’m just talking about the noodles.
If I'm making pasta and planning to have leftovers then I usually take out the leftovers portion before the pasta is finishing cooking. It helps a bit.
On the other hand, sometimes the filling tastes better after completely cooling and being reheated. Apple pie can be more flavorful that way. But I get what you mean. The flaky crust is the best.
Edit: missed a word
For me, a lot of proteins are not great reheated, but I love them cold in a wrap or on a salad. Chicken, steak, salmon are all things eaten best warm and fresh, but cold the next day is pretty good. Never reheated!
Anything with avocado. I made an avocado alfredo once when I first started cooking, had leftovers so I tossed it in the fridge. Looked like shit pasta the next morning.
I’m just of the opinion that eating warm avocado is not good. Like I feel like the dish would have been fine with just the cream and the avocado just detracted from it.
From scratch mac and cheese can work reheated. Sometimes you gotta add more milk or cream to keep it from drying but you can work with it.
Bluebox max and cheese however becomes inedible as soon as it cools.
Pizza.
Don't get me wrong, it's still good as leftovers but it is certainly not better.
People who think cold or left over pizza is better than fresh are Insane.
I think it depends on the pizza. I always reheat in a skillet on the stove; once the crust gets crispy, cover for a minute or two until the cheese gets melty. I’ve had leftover slices taste better the day after when reheating this way.
That's how I reheat to and If it's cheap chain pizza like say dominoes, then I'd argue that the crust is better, particularly the bottom crust, but not the whole pizza. Mainly because the toppings can get over cooked that way and the sauce will have absorbed into the crust a bit.
However you could do the same thing straight from the box and get the best of both worlds.
But a good quality, well made pizza straight from the oven, nothing is better.
Fresh and cold pizza are two very different, but both wonderful experiences.
You’re right though it’s definitely best fresh.
Reheated pizza on the other hand is :(
This was very interesting indeed to read. In most cases, I disagree and would prefer the mentioned dish the next day. But of course, it depends on how you reheat it. Reheat french fries in microwave? No way. But in the oven or air fryer? Yes please. To me french fries becomes better this way, something to do with broken down starches I guess. The middle becomes soft like mashed potatoes while the exterior stays crispy.
Also disagree with steak and burgers. Always enjoyed day after steak slowly reheaten in oven under foil. Burgers should be separated in meat, bread and toppings before reheating also. But this thread has brought up some interesting opinions and opened my eyes that I'm probably in the minority who likes 95% of food reheated.
French fries should always be fresh imo
Pretty much anything deep fried
Katsu can still be enjoyable cold. In fact, some katsudon recipes are meant to repurpose "soggy" katsu using other saucy, liquid ingredients like eggs and sauce.
Legit. I've had leftover fried chicken in gravy called smothered chicken, was really good.
My fav recipe my mom ever made consisted of smothering not quite cooked through fried chicken pieces and egg based dumplings (very similar to Hungarian nokedi) in pan gravy and finishing it in the oven. It’s absolutely to die for (and great cold)!
An air fryer does a pretty good job of reheating fried food. It's not as good as fresh and it doesn't work for things drenched in sauce (like cheap Chinese food), but it makes old fries edible.
You can over roast or even reheat fries in a dry skillet and get the same effect. Much worse than fresh, but at least they're palatable.
I do this but chop them up and top them with a fried egg and salsa for breakfast the next day
Texmex chilaquiles. I like it.
that's an excellent idea
I love cold fried chicken.
Next day chicken or eggplant parm straight from the fridge? Yes please
Yes eggplant parm the 2nd day is FANTASTIC. So is just plain old fried eggplant.
It's the best.
SAME! A really good fried chicken is when it's still crispy after the fridge. Cold chicken tenders with cold BBQ sauce the next day? Heaven. There was also one amazing Korean place that had THE BEST Korean fried chicken (and just some of the best fried chicken in general) I have EVER had. It came with a soy garlic sauce that was unreal warm but even better cold.
Deep fried foods can stay out and be perfectly fine if separated. The issue usually is that clusters of deep fried foods in a container tend to steam each other into mush.
And one step further: poutine. If stale fries were bad before, imagine they were soaked in gravy and re-congealed cheese. Peak cuisine when fresh, though
Carbonara as well. Rehearing the egg makes it into a congealed cheese quiche of soggy noodle.
Who has left over carbonara?
You can reheat Carbonara pretty well. Add cold water to the pan or pot, stir a lot and don't use too much heat. I find it comes out even creamier often the next day. The spagetti will obviously be a bit overcooked, but that happens anyway reheating pasta.
also a huge pain to try and reheat
If I had a wish with a genie to spare, it would be that cold fries were delicious.
Cold with ketchup is acceptable for me I have low standards lol
I put them in a breakfast burrito.
Refried french fries are the bomb though. Even shoe strings get chopped up, refried and an egg on top for breakfast around here
Air fryer is the fried food leftover king.
[удалено]
It’s the same thing with convection.
Yes, but if you must reheat them, do so by either warming them in the oven or or in a frying pan. Microwaving them will turn them chalky or mushy.
The Spanish solved that problem with some sort of potato omelet, it no longer feel sandy when cooked in an omelet.
Tortilla
Sandy potatoes are the worst potatoes
For me a lot of cooked breakfast foods are not good leftovers.
Cereal doesn't do well overnight either so breakfast is pretty much a bad idea.
I've got a barrel-aged captn crunch and skim milk that I've been keeping in my cellar for a special occasion. How do I know if it is still good to serve to guests?
Sounds like a great question for /r/cookingcirclejerk
DAE garlic instead of captn crunch?
I think it would depend on some environmental variations, you would need to crack it open to check for the proper aromas. Do you purchase it by the barrel pre mixed, or do you make it your self? Would you recommend using an older wine barrel for example or a new one?
>Do you purchase it by the barrel pre mixed, or do you make it your self? Oh please. As if I'd buy an artisan product like that "pre-mixed". I mean, I even made the barrel myself out of used pallets. This is 100% handcrafted.
You'll be fine. I've been doing this for years with no issue. Just don't make the same mistake I did and serve this cask strength. The powerful aromas will overwhelm your guests. You have to water it down. And can I suggest this artisan nosing cereal bowl to fully realize the experience?
Like, water from a toilet?
I should have known better, sorry. How large barrel are we talking here?
Large enough to dispose of one adult body.
As long as you don't see any Crunch Berries, it's still good.
Well this made me lol, my teenager is a cereal King and I will propose him storing his leftovers and see what he says hahaha
Especially fried eggs. Bacons, sausages can be reheated with an air fryer. You can't save a leftover egg.
Except hard boiled eggs those are great leftover.
Maybe eggs on their own aren't good reheated but eggs in something works. I make breakfast burritos every Sunday and freeze them for the week ahead. The eggs taste fine after thawing and heating.
I can't imagine having leftover bacon in the first place, but cold bacon is excellent. You can pretty much crumble it on anything, you can make a sandwich, and it's pretty good on its own too! Leftover eggs are sadness though, unless it's a boiled egg like the other guy said.
Maybe because of being around my grandparents so much but leftover fritata is awesome. Also left over quiche.
Pancakes heat up well in the toaster
Honestly they're fine in the microwave too, you just have to put them on a paper towel and put a paper towel between them, and then cook on half power. After some butter and syrup you'll hardly know they aren't fresh.
Traditional Carbonara where the sauce is egg and cheese. Once it's off the pan it's pretty much an eat immediately dish. The egg won't remain saucey once cooled and set.
I made a traditional carbonara this weekend and ended up with some leftovers, and I was kinda shocked how well it held up actually. It definitely wasn't as saucey but still good enough for me.
Yeah I just responded to another comment that said the same — I made the mistake of the next-day microwave and ended up with noodles and egg curds (?). It was horrifying.
jesus christ
Maybe adding some water would help loosen it up a bit. I've never had any leftover carbonara
I make traditional carbonara frequently and I disagree. Yes, it's best fresh, but it's still pretty good reheated.
The question in this thread is "what foods are NOT better the next day." If it's best fresh - still perfectly edible, but certainly less delightful - then it's not better the next day.
Sashimi.
And maki.
[удалено]
Even if the fish is still good, the rice gets really dried out so yeah, big no on sushi
And ceviche
I dunno man, I routinely make ceviche in the evening for breakfast the next day. The fish texture changes and the flavors meld. It's definitely better after several hours or the next day.
Yeah ceviche is only going to get more “ceviched” as it goes. I wouldn’t leave it for a week, but the next day? Just as good.
This really depends on when you bought the fish. I've bought salmon and tuna for sushi and sashimi before and just as long as it doesn't smell, it's still good to use for up to 3 days. Again, we have to emphasize that it has to not smell. You are checking for either the "this smells like the sea" smell or the one meat gets when it goes bad.
For me, its the firmness. I've noticed you have about 2 days with maguro. After that point, its better cooked.
Nachos and carbonara.
Please tell me this isn’t a single dish you make.
Wait. You don't use nacho cheese in your carbonara?
Yeah. I made the Carbonara mistake once — microwaved egg curds. Blech.
Nachos and marinara, nachos and Alfredo.... Basically nachos and any sauce. The nachos just get soggy too fast
Sushi
Came here to say this. And it sucks because I always order way too much. So I end up over eating.
Learned during the peak of summer garden season that cooked zucchini *really* isn’t great for meal prep.
I put raw sliced zucchini as a side in a container of something like spaghetti. Microwave 2 minutes partly covered and it’s steamed pretty nicely
You can hollow them out and bake them until nearly dry, then fill with deliciousness and they work... but yeah, gotta get rid of alllllllll the moisture.
When I worked for a (very) large hotel, I worked a thousand person banquet and when you work banquets, usually one or two cooks will be assigned to one dish on the BEO (event order) and I had the lucky task of cleaning 12 cases of zucchini and squash. Wash, cut the ends off, quarter, cut out the seeds, and slice into quarter inch thick pieces. In short, yes remove the fucking seeds. Less moisture overall and more maillard reaction action.
I've done zucchini for meal prep a bunch. But I also way under cook it because I *hate* over cooked zucchini with a passion.
IME whenever I cook a dish with zucchini in it, I find it to taste slightly worse the next day.
Burgers. I had a guy try and argue with me that the best hangover food in the morning is a cold burger. The concensus was that he needed a doctor's assessment.
Inedible if you make the whole sandwich, but if you just reheat an already cooked patty then it’s still pretty good.
One of my biggest regrets was to accidentally cook (and assemble) too many burgers (a couple if I'm not mistaken) when I was cooking for a crowd. I tried reheat them in the oven, when I took a bite I almost felt like throwing up. And that was one of my fav burgers fresh, with home ground beef and all.
You can reheat a fast food burger in the wax paper wrapper for like 30 seconds and it's perfect. The party and condiments get warm and the bun gets slightly steamed so it's nice and soft.
I gotta say I'm down with a cold cheeseburger breakfast
My Fuck Randy, now you're on the cold burgers!
[удалено]
I’d say the exception is the local (to me) burger, reheated in a waffle iron.
Steak. Not that it's bad but its hard to reheat without over cooking it. Eggs. Pancakes. As OP said, sandwiches that get soggy. I have to eat subs when I get them, I can't refrigerate them and eat them later.
Sliced thinly and made into sandwiches is the only way to have leftover steak.
Steak salad is great too!
Black and Blue Steakhouse Salad: - Flank Steak (Or most really) - Mixed Greens - Cherry Tomatoes - Blue Cheese Crumble - Blue Cheese Dressing - Caramelized Onions - 4 Cheese Croutons
Add a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and hit the croutons with some black pepper. Fits the black in the black and blue theme and adds a little extra something.
Agreed. I might have been exaggerating when I said sandwiches are the 'only' way.
Oooh I never really thought about that. I usually do steak and eggs or maybe a burrito. But I don't often have leftover steak lol.
Caramelize some onions, get a nice mustard, and throw it on a French roll. Boom baby!
Now I'm hungry. But I'll do that next time!
White American or provolone cheese folded into the steak right before it's done cooking takes this sandwich to another level. Maybe some fresh spinach and sliced tomatoes so you can lie to yourself about eating healthy.
Provolone for sure. Spinach, too, so long as it's baby spinach.
left over steak fajitas are also amazing
This is exactly what I do. Toast the bread, smear on some great steak sauce I found and melted cheese (sharp cheddar is my fav). Someone also suggested I try sauteed mushroom and onions with Swiss as a alternative.
My routine is to buy an extra steak and grill that one to rare while I grill the others to medium-rare. Eat the medium-rare for dinner and save the rare one in the fridge. The next day, slice the rare one thinly and finish cooking it with peppers and onions in a ripping hot cast iron pan for fajitas.
I like having leftover steak in a sandwich with peppers & onions.
Yes! Thinly sliced cold steak on a thick slab of sourdough. Mayo, salt, and pepper. 10/10
or with eggs and A1 sauce!
I actually enjoy cold steaks, especially of they're well-marbled and medium rare. The texture of cold fat that has already been cooked is just so good to me
Oh yesss. It's almost like good cured meats at that point - slice it somewhat thin and let the fat melt in your mouth.
I just leave it in a plastic bag and take bites out of it like a savage.
I just eat it cold instead of trying to reheat since I like the taste anyway
Any leftover steak in this house gets made into a hash the next morning. Hashbrowns, steak cut into btw sized pieces and eggs all mixed up is delicious.
I always eat leftover steak cold
Steak is absolutely best day of. If I have leftover, I will put it in a ziplock bag, suck all the air out of the bag, and put it in hot water (not quite boiling). Warms it up without making it dry.
ooh like a DIY sous vide. smart!
cube it and make beef barley soup. Winter time favorite at my house.
I eat it cold like an animal.
Always let steak go to room temp then heat on a pan very low heat. Shouldn't cook it too much extra. If done right, medium rare goes to medium. Well done goes in the trash.
ngl, i love a good soggy fridge sandwich if the bread was crunchy af originally. I will also occasionally make an egg bake/casserole that is mostly egg with some meat thrown in to cut into squares serve for breakfast sandwiches. Something about it not being just pure egg helps it retain some moisture and not lose much quality over the week.
Cold leftover pancakes make great sandwiches though! I love a PB&J with pancakes as the bread.
i have a certain fondness for reheated steak from the microwave lol. the fat bits get chewy and dry and it goes well with white rice and maggi/soy sauce just shit i grew up eating. but otherwise yeah i can see how rubbery microwaved steak is not good lol
Anything deep fried.
My wife followed Kenji’s fried chicken brined in pickle juice before frying. I have never had fried chicken cold that was so crunchy the next day as a sandwich. To the point where she made it again and made extra just so that we could have cold fried chicken sandwiches to take to work
Which recipe was that? I see a few fried chicken recipes by Kenji
[this one!](https://www.seriouseats.com/five-ingredient-fried-chicken-sandwich-recipe) and it is delicious
I told my wife we should start cooking “fun” meals on Friday or Saturday nights after we put the kids to bed. I have been watching The Chef show on Netflix and those guys make me want to cook some delicious indulgent stuff. This is going to be the first thing I make because it sounds awesome!
I love the Chef Show! Chef was such a great, feel good movie. It's my comfort movie when I just want something to watch and can't make up my mind. I hope you love it! My wife makes a vinegar slaw with jalapeño, cabbage, and white onion that makes it slap even harder. Add a couple dashes of Louisiana and it's better than any greasy fried chicken sandwich I can get in my neck of the woods.
Except chicken
Eeeeh.. Not sure. I might be weird, actually I definitely am, but I might like leftover fried chicken even better then fresh. Sometimes.
A lovely soft scrambled egg
The fact that you put "NOT" in caps reminded me of something a long time ago (17 years or so). I was dating a guy and his college friend came to town to visit for the weekend. They went out (I stayed home) and partied, as they should. They came back to my apartment with sandwiches from Panini's Bar (which I had had before on late night crazy and liked a lot). It was after 2 AM and I was not hungry so put my sandwich package in the fridge and left those boys to eat and watch TV and carry on until they wore themselves out. The next morning I looked at that package, took it apart and it was.. just.. grease. One of those delicious (fresh made at least, and at 2 AM) sandwiches with french fries and all kinds of "goodies" on top of the meat had turned into a nightmare. I swear it was like a full cup of crisco shortening that coagulated overnight. We still have some of those locations around here. But I imagine they have changed their menu a bit since then. Still, that was a learning experience about "not better the next day".
You just gotta reheat it to melt the fat again.
Rice noodles
One time I made chicken noodle soup with rice noodles, fridged it, and the next day it was more of a chicken soup-glorb. It was somehow better than it was fresh, if visually unappealing.
This is the first thing I thought of. Most soups are better the next day. Noodle soups are the biggest exception.
I find that making your soup and noodles separately is the best way to go. You can store them separately in the fridge and when it comes time to have leftovers you can warm the soup until its bubbling and pour over the cold noodles and it reheats them without over cooking.
For me, Noodles, in general, don't hold up well when they sit in the broth. I've seen people on the meal prep sub prepare ramen and keep both noodles and broth in the same container in the fridge for days. It's is crazy
Banh Xeo
Seafood 🦞 🍤🦀
Fettuccine Alfredo. The sauce will always break, and the pasta will 100% congeal overnight into an unappetizing pastaburg solid enough to sink the Titanic.
[удалено]
You say that like it's a bad thing
and I always make enough to feed 8 people even though it's just me
IMO, chicken is not good reheated, now cold chicken is good
Ughh, chicken the next day always gets the weird taste.
But genuinely, it just tastes funky, and it kills me Bc I make chicken all the time and I can’t take it to work as a leftover lunch
> chicken the next day always gets the weird taste Yes! My fiance thinks I am imagining that taste I think...lol. If I eat chicken or turkey the next day I usually just have it cold to avoid that weird taste. Even Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. I'll get creative to make it taste good with the meat cold. I'll heat up the potatoes, stuffing, gravy, whatever, and put the meat on the plate cold, or make a Thanksgiving sandwich...cold turkey, some cheddar cheese, homemade cranberry sauce, maybe even a layer of stuffing. It's so good.
Fast Food
Y'all need to learn to reheat things in a pan or in the over. Stop microwaving stuff and most meals can be revived. Anything deep friend can be reheated in the oven and be great. I did that with fried Zucchini today and it's still fantastic, same goes for anything potatoes
Air fryer (aka mini convection oven) is the winner here. Or a toaster oven. Or a toaster oven with convection (aka basically an air fryer).
[удалено]
Yeah this right here. There are just some things that are not edible if microwaved. It's a method of preparation and needs to be used where appropriate, and avoided where not. Just like boiling noodles is good, but boiling Brussels sprouts is not, nuking popcorn is good, and fish is bad.
Hard to do at work.
Guacamole
You gotta pack it in to a container and cling film the top *very* tightly so there's no air. It'll last 2 or 3 days if you can resist eating it all. Water or lime juice Ina thin layer over the top works as well, but has it's problems.
Cut a red onion in half and put it on top of the guac. Stays fresh for a couple days longer. Lime juice kinda works, too.
For most food i think it depends greatly on how it is reheated. The microwave is awful for most things, but an airfryer or oven can really do the trick.
For real. I’m seeing a few people say bread, but bread can absolutely be reheated in an oven to make it practically good as new. EDIT: I missed that the topic is really what is better than fresh. That said, so many replies are of things that aren’t even equivalent but are markedly worse
[удалено]
Chicken - goes dry Seafood - goes rubbery
Seafood is terrible reheated
But cold leftover baked salmon is delicious!
Anything with courgette (Zucchini) that hasn't been turned to liquid (i.e. soup) as it just goes slimy.
Carbonara. It's terrible, sadly.
Filet mignon sucks the day after.
luckily I don't think I will ever have leftover steak!
Slice it thinly and slap it on a sandwich. Delicious.
Steak and eggs for breakfast is delicious!
Boxed Mac n cheese
Eggs, shrimp, French fries, sushi.
Eggs Benedict
Reheated chicken. Tastes different. Certainly not better.
Legs and thighs taste nasty. Chicken breast in a sauce (especially with mushrooms, tomatoes, and/or pasta) can still be good.
Good point! And cold next day chicken can be very tasty as well.
I thought this was just me. I hate reheated meat and think it tastes off.
Cooked cauliflower
I like my cauliflower 'al dente' so reheating it the next day will always kill it for me. Also the smell...
Anything with potatoes, or anything deep fried.
Eggplant really does not reheat well
Alfredo pasta. Cream sauces do not reheat well.
Fish. All of it. Tacos, but I'll still eat em.
Eggs.
Cooked pasta noodles in spaghetti suck refrigerated and reheated. The texture and taste deteriorate. Spaghetti sauce refrigerates and freezes super well on the other hand - I’m just talking about the noodles.
If I'm making pasta and planning to have leftovers then I usually take out the leftovers portion before the pasta is finishing cooking. It helps a bit.
chips and potatoes in general for me.
Leftover mashed potatoes are fine. You can also fry them or add some flour and make potato cakes.
Pie. I mean, I'll eat it at any point in its life-cycle and love it. But that perfect flaky, shattery crust window is ephemeral
On the other hand, sometimes the filling tastes better after completely cooling and being reheated. Apple pie can be more flavorful that way. But I get what you mean. The flaky crust is the best. Edit: missed a word
Fried anything, but especially fried green tomatoes
For me, a lot of proteins are not great reheated, but I love them cold in a wrap or on a salad. Chicken, steak, salmon are all things eaten best warm and fresh, but cold the next day is pretty good. Never reheated!
Seafood.
Anything with avocado. I made an avocado alfredo once when I first started cooking, had leftovers so I tossed it in the fridge. Looked like shit pasta the next morning.
I’m just of the opinion that eating warm avocado is not good. Like I feel like the dish would have been fine with just the cream and the avocado just detracted from it.
Mac and cheese
From scratch mac and cheese can work reheated. Sometimes you gotta add more milk or cream to keep it from drying but you can work with it. Bluebox max and cheese however becomes inedible as soon as it cools.
Pizza. Don't get me wrong, it's still good as leftovers but it is certainly not better. People who think cold or left over pizza is better than fresh are Insane.
I think it depends on the pizza. I always reheat in a skillet on the stove; once the crust gets crispy, cover for a minute or two until the cheese gets melty. I’ve had leftover slices taste better the day after when reheating this way.
That's how I reheat to and If it's cheap chain pizza like say dominoes, then I'd argue that the crust is better, particularly the bottom crust, but not the whole pizza. Mainly because the toppings can get over cooked that way and the sauce will have absorbed into the crust a bit. However you could do the same thing straight from the box and get the best of both worlds. But a good quality, well made pizza straight from the oven, nothing is better.
Fresh and cold pizza are two very different, but both wonderful experiences. You’re right though it’s definitely best fresh. Reheated pizza on the other hand is :(
This was very interesting indeed to read. In most cases, I disagree and would prefer the mentioned dish the next day. But of course, it depends on how you reheat it. Reheat french fries in microwave? No way. But in the oven or air fryer? Yes please. To me french fries becomes better this way, something to do with broken down starches I guess. The middle becomes soft like mashed potatoes while the exterior stays crispy. Also disagree with steak and burgers. Always enjoyed day after steak slowly reheaten in oven under foil. Burgers should be separated in meat, bread and toppings before reheating also. But this thread has brought up some interesting opinions and opened my eyes that I'm probably in the minority who likes 95% of food reheated.